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The Carmelite Order is one
of the five ancient Religious Orders in the Catholic
Church, and first one to be dedicated to Mary, who
sought God’s will in profound silence and did it with
all her heart and thus became the mother of all the
disciples of Jesus.
Mt. Carmel in Holy Land, symbol for prayer, silence and
solitude, has always attracted god-seeking people.
There were always solitary hermits or communities of
monks on Mount Carmel, living a life of prayer and
contemplation, inspired by the life and spirit of
prophet Elias and his followers from early days of
Christianity. They lived as hermits in the numerous
caves there from time immemorial.
In the beginning of the 12 century a few men living on
the slopes of Mt. Carmel organized themselves as the
Brothers of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel The written history
of the Order up to A D 1200 remains however shrouded in
the lives of Latin hermits who lived in the caves of Mt.
Cannel, in silence, solitude and to witness Gospel
Mystery of Interiority.
It is believed that St Berthold assembled various monks
living scattered on Mt. Carmel into a community and St
Brocard, his successor, requested a norm of life for
them from St Albert, the Latin Patriarch and Papal
Delegate of the Holy Land and this was granted in 1209.
contemplation - living out their special calling
Eventually they migrated to Europe, especially due to
the threats of marauding Moslem armies in the region,
and their leader in England in a difficult moment of
their existence, received a vision from Mary with the
command to wear the Holy Scapular as a sign of deeper.
Commitment to Gospel values and therefore of one’s
personal salvation. That becomes down the centuries a
true symbol of authentic love of God in prayer and of
taking upon oneself the yoke of service in imitation of
Mary, the true disciple.
Pope honorius III confirmed this rule in 1226-27. Pope
Innocent IV, who introduced certain modifications into
the rule in order to suit it to the new circumstances
and time, later approved it in 1247.
Pope Eugenius IV mitigated this Alberto-Innocentian Rule
in 1431, after the pest known as ‘black death’, at the
request of the Superiors of the Order. From then on
there were several attempts to go back to the pristine
observance. As a result there arose many reformed
Congregations. But they did not last for long, as they
could not achieve their aim fully.
Charism in Full Bloom
In 1562, St. Teresa of Avila started a reform movement
among the nuns and then with the help of St john of the
cross, among the friars in 1568 in Spain. All the
reformed more austere way of life were generally known
as the Discalced. After a period of waiting, the
Discalced Carmelites were allowed to form a separate
Province under the direct jurisdiction of the Prior
General of the Order in 1580, as it was a quasi
re-foundation of the Order. Further development resulted
in the institution of a separate branch of the Order
with a proper Vicar General in 1587 and an independent
Order in 1593.
The reform itself was divided into three separate
congregation and later in 1857 under Leo XIII were
re-united into the present Order of the Discalced
Carmelite Friars today numbering almost 4500, that is
spread all over the world divided into 45 Provinces, 3
General Delegations 5 Commissariats, 9 Regional
Vicarates, and 23 Provincial Delegations.
The international Carmelite Order comprising of three
branches of Men, Cloistered Nuns and Lay Persons, spread
through Europe very fast and then in South America and
now in Asia & Africa. Today it is present in more than
90 countries round the globe. St. Therese of Lisieux
known as Little Flower and St. Edith Stein, Bl.
Elizabeth of Trinity, St. Rapheal Kalinowski, Bl.
Kuriakose Chavara, Bl. Mary of Jesus Crucified too are
Carmelites.
The congregation of religious numbering some 70 today,
retaining their juridical autonomy, share in the Charism
of the Order in various degrees. So the Apostolic Carmel
(AC), The Vedruna Sisters, The CSST Sisters, The CCR
Sisters or The CMC Sisters, The CM Sisters and so many
involved in apostolate in India and abroad all form true
members of a very big family of Carmelites in the
Church.
The Carmelites in India.
During the early 17th century the reformed (Discalced)
Carmelites of Sts. Teresa and John of the Cross, came to
the Middle East and India; The first Carmelites reached
the shores of India in the year 1619 in Goa. They were
the instruments of fruitful evangelisation all through
the western coast of India for the last 5 centuries.
They were sent in directly by the pope expressly for the
spread of gospel message and not as part of the
colonizers. The marked catholic presence in the western
coast of India, from Kerala to Gujarat, is greatly due
to the work of the Carmelites. The Beautiful Church
built at Sardana in Haryana by a Moslem Princess who was
converted to Christianity is a monument for the
missionary zeal of the Carmelities. The Mumbai
archdiocese extending all over the erstwhile mogul
empire was served by the Carmelites from 1720 till 1846.
The other missions entrusted to Carmelites were the
Malabar, Verapoly, the Mangalore, the Sunkeri, the
Bijapur, the Bidanore and the Coorg missions at various
times of its history.
The First Novitiate of OCD Friars in India, in recent
memory, was opened in 1928. Today there are 6 Provinces,
1 Commissariate, and 1 Regional Vicariate and 2
Provincial delegations in India with over 900 professed
members.
There are along with friars. 33 Cloistered Carmelite
Monasteries of nuns who spend their entire life enclosed
within the cloistered walls away from out noisy and
selfish world of today. There they witness to us the
beautiful side of Christianity.
There are almost 30,000 secular Carmel members spread
throughout India, who live their calling to be the
mainstream Christians living their role in the family,
the world and the church motivated by sound principles
of Carmelite spirituality and Christian holiness.
The Spiritual Identity of the Carmelites
In a nutshell therefore, we can say the Carmelite Order
is called in the Church to live, witness and promote the
mystery and beauty of Contemplative - prayer of Jesus
through the communitarian life and apostolic
initiatives. The main apostolic activity they involve in
is responding to the spiritual needs of the clergy,
religious and laity by retreats, counseling, preaching,
institutes of spirituality, media apostulate as well as
missionary and parish social apostolate whenever the
local church requires.
Moved by the teachings and life witness of Saints Teresa
of Avila and John of the Cross, both eminent doctors of
Spiritual life in the Church, the Order moves forward in
service of the humanity.
The first priority of the Carmelites is Prayer and
Contemplation. They are also engaged in ministry and
other missionary activities. In other words, it is an
affirmation that as a flower blooms with light of the
Sun, the human life blooms fully, only when it is
totally open to God. Human person is capable of greatest
growth and able to live a high quality of life and love
only when he is open profoundly to God, as was Jesus.
Thus the Carmelites affirm that the holiness is not what
we achieve by our efforts alone, but what happens to us
when we meet God in the intimacy of the heart and do His
Holy Will. Prayer is not merely what we say to God and
ask of Him, but an intimate and perennial friendship
with Him, being present to Him, whom we know loves us.
It is an affirmation that it is possible to meet God for
you for me and for every one right now.
Karnataka - Goa - Maharashtra province, which is spread
over four Indian states of Karnatka, Goa, Maharashtra
and Gujarat has about 180 professed religious serving
not only in India but also in Tanzania, South Africa and
other countries.
We, through our ministry of the spiritual life uphold
the inner worth of the human person. We defend the right
and dignity of every human being to be a God’s child,
God’s image. We are committed to build a society where
people rise beyond every form of human selfishness and
enslavement to live in peace and harmony with oneself
and with others as a community of disciples of Jesus
today. |
